{"id":1484,"date":"2026-03-08T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/?p=1484"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:54:09","slug":"2026-day-45-rotorua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sjs.sputs.com\/wordpress\/2026\/03\/08\/2026-day-45-rotorua\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Day 45 Rotorua"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

March 8, 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Link to Heinrich's thermal observations: http:\/\/geysers.org\/wordpress\/2026\/03\/08\/observations-for-2026-march-08\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a free day to travel around various places in Rotorua. The weather was mostly overcast, but it was fairly warm and it didn't rain. We took our time getting up and had a leisurely breakfast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first stop was the Rotorua Tree Trust which was less than a mile away from our BnB. The park contained trees from around the world, including maple trees which I had seen nowhere else in New Zealand. It was interesting to see the maple trees were already turning color in March. There were many trails in the area, and we walked a short way along one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Entrance to the Rotorua Tree Trust<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One of the trails<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Belladonna lily near the entrance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next we drove to the Whakarewarewa Forest with non-native redwood trees. We spent a few hours hiking some of the trails. The forest was not too crowded while we were there, which made the hiking very pleasant. We passed a few of the structures used for the Redwoods Treewalk, a paid attraction with suspension bridges high above the forest floor.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Redwoods in the Whakarewarewa Forest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Redwoods Treewalk structure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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One of the trail junctions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next we drove to Kuirau Park and visited its various thermal features. It was one of the few places in New Zealand where we could see thermal activity for free: a steaming lake, hot springs, and mudpots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kuirau Park mudpots<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another mudpot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Kuirau Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Closed trail along Kuirau Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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